It has previously been proposed--see the referenced German Patent No. 11 53 383--to remove sheet-like products received from a rotary printing machine by gripping the products on grippers secured to a chain, and passing the products into respective transport paths. Such apparatus requires complex controls for the grippers for timed opening and closing of the grippers, that is, to pinch and release the respective products. Control apparatus of this type, particularly when operating at high speed, can be costly and are subject to malfunction. It has also been proposed--see the German Patent Disclosure Document DE-OS 32 12 350--to utilize upper and lower pick-up tapes or belts running along the sides of imbricated copy products. The copy products which are to be separated from each other, that is, pulled out from each other laterally, are gripped by the respective bands or belts. It is not possible, however, to positively and reliably grip these copy products in that manner and to guide them into the respective transport path with proper alignment and orientation so that a predetermined register with respect to a reference can be maintained.